November 19, 2024

Markets:

Stock futures were lower early Tuesday as geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment, while investors awaited key earnings from retailers and chipmaker Nvidia this week.

Those declines come after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. on Tuesday that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons had lowered. Under the new doctrine, Russia would consider using such weaponry if it — or allies — were met with “with the use of conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity.”

Futures also took a leg lower on news that Ukraine hit a Russian border city with U.S.-made missiles. The Russian military said in a statement that a “facility in Bryansk region at 03:25 tonight using six ballistic missiles.”

This comes as traders assessed key retail earnings reports, offering insight into the health of the consumer. Walmart rose 4% before the bell after posting strong earnings and hiking its outlook on strong discretionary spending.

Nvidia is also set to post its latest quarterly figures Wednesday. Eyes will be on how much demand the company signals for its Blackwell AI chips.

Asia-Pacific markets rose Tuesday after Tesla helped lift Wall Street overnight, and as investors parsed Chinese financial policymakers’ speech at an investment summit in Hong Kong.

Portfolio:

Nice start to the week yesterday for us and we enter the new session holding set-ups in LUNR, NNE, BITX, HIMS, and GME. The headline narrative, especially the one threatening nuclear war, is a bit too much and take this as an opportunity to add to some of your favorite long term holds. Short term, great opportunity for us as well. This week it's all about NVDA to us. The main event is tomorrow after the close. Stay focused on trend lines and sector right now with momentum. Stay patient and do not get caught in headline chasing or reactions.

Be on alert today and ready. Queue continues to ignite.